Google Street View Shows ‘Secret Base’ In Israel, But Military Says It’s Not Secret At All

Some in Israel are calling foul after images of what’s described as a “secret base” in the Tel Aviv area have appeared on Google’s Street View service. But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — the country’s defense department — says everything is fine.

Journalist and new media consultant Yossi Dorfman revealed in his blog that a secret Tel Aviv-area base has been fully exposed by Google’s new service. The images allow users to see the guard post at the entrance to the base, several soldiers inside it, and vehicles parked in the base with their license plates clearly visible.

The article goes on to quote a “veteran officer” who saw the images and called it a “first-rate screwup” on the IDF’s part to allow the images to show up online. There’s nothing in the Ynetnews article that places any blame on Google.

In fact, in the Hebrew-language version of the article, an IDF spokesperson is quoted at the end as saying all images on Street View have been reviewed and approved for display, and that there are no military security-related reasons to hide the images in question.

For its part, a Google spokesperson gave us this statement:

“We always strive to cooperate with the relevant authorities in countries in which Street View is operated. We had very constructive discussions with the Israeli security authorities and are pleased that they have approved our plans to bring Street View to Israel. The imagery featured on Street View is no different from what any person can readily see walking down the street or looking at other pictures online. Imagery of this kind is available in a wide variety of formats for cities all around the world.”

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.